CLEVELAND, Ohio - After nearly eight decades since his creation in the Glenville neighborhood, Cleveland's most famous son will get his due -- an eight-month exhibit at the Cleveland Public Library called "Superman: From Cleveland to Krypton."

The massive exhibit is the closest thing to a Superman Museum the city is likely to see. It will be spread out over three floors at the downtown library at 325 Superior Ave., and cover many aspects of Superman and his creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. It will also pay homage to the larger world of comics, in a limited fashion.

"Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster spent a lot of time at our library while they were working on Superman," said Amy Dawson, manager of the library's literature department and the Ohio Center for the Book. "It seems only fitting that Cleveland should honor them and their creation."

The program will be outlined in a panel at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Wizard World Cleveland.

The library exhibit opens May 6 -- which is Free Comic Book Day -- and will close on Dec. 31. The exhibit will be open every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will include thousands of items, some dating back to the late 1930s. There will also be lectures and panel discussions on the various aspects of Superman scattered throughout the year.

Many of the exhibit items were donated to the library by Mike Curtis, who lives near Little Rock, Arkansas, who felt it was time to make sure his collection would end up in the right hands. Curtis is the writer of the nationally syndicated "Dick Tracy" newspaper strip.

Dawson said many other exhibition items will be on loan from private collectors. Dawson said the theme will be how Superman has captured the imagination of millions of people around the world for the past 79 years since he was created by two Glenville High School students.

What will Superman lovers see?

There will be a great deal of memorabilia of all kinds: comics, statues, posters, records, games, art, puzzles, toys, souvenirs and "anything that captures the imagination," Dawson said.

"In the center of the newly renovated Brett Hall on the first floor will be a re-created bedroom of a young boy and girl," Dawson said. "The room will be decorated top to bottom with Superman-related items for everyone."

While these items may have been bought for pennies in the 1940s, some fetch huge sums today for tens of thousands of dollars. One of the items that eluded the library was an actual copy of the comic that started it all, "Action Comics" No. 1, featuring the first appearance of Superman. A near-perfect copy of the comic sold for $3.2 million in 2014.

"We are still trying to convince a collector to let us borrow a copy for all or part of the exhibit, which would be under heavy security," she said. "The other item we were unable to get was the costume worn by George Reeves in the Superman television show in the 1950s. We were trying to borrow the one that is owned by the Smithsonian, but we were unable to meet the conditions the museum required, which included very specific climate controls that we could not meet."

There will be a kick-off event on May 6 starting at 11 a.m. in the Louis Stokes Wing of the library featuring an exploration of topics concerning Superman. Speakers include Brad Ricca, author of "Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster"; Mike Olszewski, president of the Siegel and Shuster Society; Mike Curtis, donor and author of "Dick Tracy"; Dennis Barrie and Valentino Zullo.

Other parts of the exhibit will include:

+ The prototype of the Superman statue that will be placed near the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will be on display on the library's first floor. It will be the first time the public has had a chance to see the statue created by David Deming.

+ Superman on the screen: a collection of photos, posters and other items commemorating Superman appearances on movies and television.

+ A tribute to Superman's friends and foes, including Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Lex Luthor, Krypto the Superdog and others.

+ A section that features a current comics that show the new focus on diversity. Today there are more characters of color in comics than ever in history. It is difficult to find a comic today that does not include a minority, gay or lesbian character either as the protagonist or a supporting character. There are hundreds of graphic novels with personal stories about minority, lesbian or gay characters, including some created by area writers and artists.

+ The Superman costume worn by Brandon Routh in "Superman Returns" will be on exhibit.

+ The library is "85 percent" sure they will get a large 5-by-8-foot painting of Superman created by 1930s pulp artist H.J. Ward. The painting hung in the offices of DC Comics in New York from 1941 to 1959. The painting was missing for many years, until it resurfaced at Lehman College in the Bronx.

+ In a very timely display, there will be an exhibit that examines Superman as an immigrant, born on another planet and being adopted by an Earth couple. The library is also working with former Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman, now with Global Cleveland, to produce a film of Clevelanders discussing Superman's alien immigrant status.

+ Laura Siegel Larson, the daughter of Jerry Siegel, will fly into town to place a "literary landmark" at the library in honor of Siegel and Shuster. Larson, a former actress and television reporter, will speak about journalism and her mother, Joanne Siegel, one of the young women that inspired the creation of Lois Lane.